Future of Powell Panther football program bright

Powell Panthers JV running back Kadden Abraham fights for extra yardage in a game against Buffalo earlier this season. The JV squad finished its short season with a 2-2 record.Tribune photo by Don Cogger

Powell High School’s junior varsity football team ended the season with a .500 record, going 2-2.

“JV played well together for the short amount of games they had,” said defensive coach Chase Kistler.

The Panther JV opened the season on Aug. 26 with an 18-6 loss to Rocky Mountain at home, but rebounded to deliver a 34-0 pounding of Buffalo on Sept. 16 and a 61-0 drubbing of Lovell on Sept. 25.

In their only road game of the year, the JV traveled to Cody on Oct. 2 to finish out the season.

Against the Broncs, the Panthers were down 20-6 at halftime. They dominated the second half — allowing only eight points while scoring twice as many — but the deficit was too great and Powell lost 28-22.

JV offensive coach Waleryan Wisniewski said that, during the two losses, the team was down a couple of key players due to either an injury or because of a varsity game coming up.

“But when we did have our [full roster], we seemed to be clicking on all cylinders,” said Wisniewski.

Against Cody in the last game of the season, Wisniewski said that he thought the freshmen who played “stepped up and played well.”

“We have a lot of guys that like to compete and that’s the biggest thing you want on your team is to have guys that are just going to go out and compete every down and strive to win every one-on-one that they have,” the coach said.

He added that having athletes with that mentality gives the team a chance to not only be competitive but also successful.

“So I think the future for the Powell Panther football program is bright,” Wisniewski said.

Coach Kistler agreed, but also added the future is “in their hands.”

“We could be a very good team if the kids kind of take a hold of it and continue to get better,” he said. “They have the potential.”

Leave a comment

All comments are initially screened to avoid spam and profanity, and your comment may take some time to appear on the site. The Powell Tribune reserves the right to not publish inappropriate comments.
Fields marked (*) are required.